Hawaii Dem Governor Awards Cronies $186,000 Contract -- State Loses $90,000

After serving ten terms as the state's First District U.S. Congressman, Neil Abercrombie has hit his fair share of bumps in the road since being elected Governor of Hawaii in January 2010. In the last month the Governor has drawn criticism for allocating assets reserved for the state's Hurricane Relief Fund elsewhere on the day before the beginning of hurricane season, and felt heat after calling the Probowl, Hawaii's single major sports event, "so stupid."

Now, a recent investigative piece in the Hawaii Reporter reveals that the Governor recently awarded a $186,387 consulting contract to a company of political allies, after rejecting another company’s $96,000 bid because it was submitted 11 minutes late.

From the Hawaii Reporter:

"The contract – to help straighten out a tangled bureaucratic mess at the State Historic Preservation Division – was awarded to Solutions Pacific, a firm headed by Abercrombie political ally Raynard Soon.

Soon was a key player in the Abercrombie transition team formed after the new governor was elected in November. Soon’s daughter, Solutions Pacific chief executive Rebecca Soon, worked on Abercrombie’s election campaign and helped stage a series of inauguration events held before and after the new governor was sworn into office in December."

"The other company which tried to bid for the SHPD contract, Honua Consulting, was disqualified after it first  delivered its paperwork to the SHPD office in Kapolei instead of to the Department of Land and Natural Resource’s Honolulu headquarters.

By the time the paperwork arrived at the DLNR office on May 10, it was 11 minutes past the posted deadline.

'I am disappointed that we were unable to consider your proposal for the (contract), but after consulting with the state Procurement Office, we were unable to find any means by which it could be reviewed and considered without violating our rules, which are in place to ensure a fair and transparent procurement process,” DLNR Deputy Director Guy Kaulukukui said in a letter to Honua Consulting president Trisha Kehaulani Watson."

In addition to campaign volunteer support, the Soons have donated $4,625 to Abercrombie's political campaign and $2,750 to the Abercrombie inaugural fund.

(H/T: Watchdog.org)